Cowell was saved from making a tough decision after Cheryl Cole, Walsh and Dannii Minogue all picked the duo to leave the contest.

The ferocious judge said he took "full responsibility" for the duo's departure after he made them perform Duck Sauce's song Barbra Streisand on Saturday night's musical heroes-themed show.

Diva Fever admitted today they were worried about the song because they did not think people would be familiar with it but said Cowell told them he had a "vision".

"Sometimes you are afraid to speak up because you think they might start thinking you're a diva," Joe Al-Smadi told ITV's Daybreak. "We did express that we didn't like the song to start off with because it's really new in the chart at the minute.

"We thought a lot of people might not know it.

"But Simon had a vision for it and he said he thought we'd do really well with it."

Craig Saggers, the other half of the act, added: "It's not a particularly melodic song.

"We just got worried about it."

Asked why he dyed his hair pink, Storm Lee said: "The truth of it is I feel a little bit set up by my mentor.

"He was really adamant that I change my look and be a little bit more flamboyant.

"I wasn't going to start off the show by fighting him."

But the musician said he did his best during his performances and added of his elimination: "I actually strangely feel quite relieved in a way."

The audience were shocked when wacky Wagner Carrilho was saved by the public vote. Bookies said in the past day, Carrilho's odds to win collapsed from 33/1 to just 14/1.

Ladbrokes spokesman David Williams said: "Punters can't get enough of Wagner. The stranger he becomes, the more they love him."

Last night's show opened with the contestants performing Lady Gaga and Beyonce's Telephone.

Former contestant Diana Vickers and Katy Perry also took to the stage.

Perry, who acted as a temporary judge while Minogue was on maternity leave, told Cowell she was "waiting for his call" to ask her to return as a judge.